SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The USC Upstate softball team will host Gardner-Webb on Sunday and Monday afternoon for the final three-game home series of the 2021 season.
 
USC Upstate(22-13, 9-3 Big South) and Gardner-Webb (5-26, 4-14 Big South) will be featured on national television on Sunday evening, when they play on ESPNU at 5:00 p.m. It will be the first nationally televised game ever played at Cyrill Softball Stadium since its opening in 2002. On Tuesday afternoon, the Spartans defeated Western Carolina 3-1 in the first game of a double-header to pick up their 400^th win inside Cyrill Stadium.  
 
Earlier this week the Spartans completed the double-header sweep over Western Carolina on Tuesday afternoon, with a 7-0 win in the night cap. The Spartans offense got off to an electrifying start as they plated four runs in the top of the first inning. The offense never looked back as they plated an additional three runs over the next few innings. Mallie Brown (Stockbridge, Ga.) threw a complete game shutout to pick up her ninth win of the 2021 season.
 
USC Upstate and Gardner-Webb are meeting for the 26^th time since the 2009 softball season. Over that span, USC Upstate is a perfect 25-0 against the Runnin' Bulldogs. In the series, USC Upstate is averaging 6.96 runs per game and has outscored Gardner-Webb 174-24 since 2009. The last time Gardner-Webb made the short trek down to Spartanburg, the Spartans swept the series on April 10-11, 2019.
 
This season Sarah Price (Landrum, S.C.) leads USC Upstate in batting average (.374) and in total hits (46). Starting catcher Peyton Darnell (Fort Mill, S.C.) leads the team in homeruns (8) and in total RBI's with 29 on the season. In the circle, Savannah Brown (Mint Hill, N.C.) leads the Spartan pitching staff with a 2.72 era and Mallie Brown leads the team with 91 strikeouts on the year. Freshman Adison Yoder (Newton, N.C.) earned Big South Freshman of the Week honors earlier this week. Yoder picked up a save in three appearances this week and posted a 0.88 ERA in the process.
 
Gardner-Webb has struggled this season after being named the preseason favorites in the coaches poll. The Runnin' Bulldogs also had the Preseason Pitcher of the Year in Brooke Perry and the Preseason Co-Player of the Year in Autmn Owen. Owen has not be able to play this season due to injury. Perry has been the top option in the circle this season for Gardner-Webb, making 18 starts in 20 appearances. Perry is 4-15 overall with a 4.47 earned run average and has struck out 92 batters this season.
 
Leslie McNeil is the top offensive option for Gardner-Webb this season with a .323 batting average. Andrea Lyon leads the team in homeruns (4), RBI's (12) and total bases (31).
 
Sunday's game can be seen on ESPNU, while games two and three on Monday afternoon will be shown on ESPN+. Livestats for all games and a recap following the days action can be found at upstatespartans.com.   
 
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